Sapphire and Gold
by Reminiscent Lullaby
Summary: Hawkmoth has a plot to find out Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities, and typically, things don't go as planned. Atypically, he might prefer it that way. It's time to start deciding what's really most important to him. Gabenath.


**I'm still riding the Gabriel X Nathalie hype train at full speed. I genuinely cannot get enough of these two. I consider this story to take place in the same "universe" as "Brand New Conditions", my other Gabenath one-shot exploring the situation following Mayura, but you do not have to read that to understand this. Please do read it, though, and leave a review if you would be so inclined.**

 **I do want to point out, I began writing this before Season 3 aired. Literally my first thought when I saw the promo for the premiere episode was "Wait, what about my fan fiction?" I'm sure a lot of us had that same brief panic. Luckily we got no mention of Mayura that would force a contradiction between this work and canon, not that it matters, but you know what I mean. Also, let me know what you thought of Chameleon!**

 **And I'm sorry this is so damn long XD.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir.**

When Gabriel told Adrien he planned on hosting a charity event at their mansion, the green-eyed boy had been at a loss for how to react. His father was an exceptionally private man. Not even Nino was allowed over. Adrien couldn't imagine that he'd willingly open his house to a number of guests at once, plenty of which were sure to be strangers. Yet, Adrien knew Gabriel had no sense of humor, and therefore no reason to kid, whether it was to play some sort of cruel joke on his son, or, in a bizarre stroke of self-awareness, make light of his own obsession with secrecy.

Adrien had wrangled with the possible responses that fluttered faintly through his head. For an embarrassingly long while, his mouth quivered. At last, he said dumbly, "What?"

Nathalie's dull expression had lifted very briefly, the split-second indication that she was sympathetically amused. Gabriel was standing in the doorway of Adrien's bedroom, looking down at his son where he had been doing homework. Clearing his throat, as though that would make the announcement less absurd, he repeated, "I'll be hosting a charity event for the Agreste Foundation here in two week's time. Invite as many classmates as you choose. The dress code is formal."

He turned his back and left before Adrien had another chance to express his bewilderment. Nathalie, who had been holding her hand on the door knob, gave a slight nod to Adrien and shut the door as she left after her employer.

A few days later, once the word had gotten out about the event, and Adrien had overzealously invited his entire school to his house next Friday night, Gabriel publicly requested that Ladybug and Chat Noir make an appearance, setting the city abuzz. Following the next akuma attack, Nadja Chamack drove a microphone into the faces of Paris's heroes and asked them on live TV if they would be accepting Gabriel Agreste's invitation. They'd expected a simple yes or no, but for some reason, both heroes had stuttered through an awkward, yet equally evasive answer.

Gabriel lowered his tablet to smile at Nathalie. It was reason enough to believe that they'd already promised to be there - as civilians.

His assistant tried to replicate his satisfaction, but she had just acted as Mayura minutes earlier and was feeling rather ill. She lounged on a chair with her eyes closed, feeling the earth tilt back and forth. It was difficult to feel excited while she was in that state. Gabriel managed, though.

He knew more about his son than he was given credit for. Adrien, for instance, was an avid fan of Ladybug, a quality he didn't try to hide given the slew of red and black merchandise visibly scattered across his room whenever Gabriel had the mind to check on him. He used this as his final appeal to secure the heroes' attendance.

Ladybug's masked face tensed when she heard the name of the young heir. Nadja smiled and said, "Gabriel Agreste has spoken of how much his son would appreciate your appearance." Chat Noir's vivid green eyes flicked to his partner momentarily before returning to the camera. "And after all, the event is for charity. If Paris's heroes were to to attend, surely that would encourage the generosity of others across the city," added Nadja.

Gabriel's hands tightened around the tablet in anticipation.

And the bid had appeared to have an effect. Ladybug evidently wrestled with herself over the next few seconds of silence. She opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by the beeping of her earrings. Raising her hand to her ear, she blurted out, "I can't promise I'll stay for long, but-" she backed away, twirling her yo-yo with her free hand, "-I'll be there."

She was gone. Chat Noir looked after her, slightly dumbfounded, as though he hadn't expected her to concede. His recovery was seamless. He let out a small chuckle, pointing at the camera with a finger-gun and making a smolder, "Well, I guess that makes the both of us. See you next Friday night, Paris!"

Gabriel sighed and set down the screen. "No bumps in the road yet, Nathalie."

She nodded weakly. "I'm glad, sir."

The thrill of success wore down quickly as his mind floundered to determined the proper reaction to her. Gabriel knew she was too proud to let him dote on her, but he couldn't help but perceive a stroke of cruelty in her sentiment, since she was all too aware of what had transpired the last time someone had activated the peacock miraculous. She owed it to him to let him worry.

But worrying took time, and Gabriel was nothing if not efficient. He cleared his throat. "I'll produce a list of the remaining tasks to be taken care of for the event. As soon as you feel you are able, attend to them."

Even he had standards. The words burned in his mouth as she struggled to keep her eyes open against the vertigo. He decided he could no longer look at her and turned his back, facing the shimmering golden portrait of his wife instead, though his unease wasn't much relieved by the sight of Emilie's smiling face.

Nathalie whimpered behind him, "Yes, sir," punctuating her compliance with a pained groan.

* * *

As far as Nathalie was concerned, Audrey Bourgeois was the most disagreeable person she had ever met, and three years of experience as a customer service representative made that conclusion a stark one. She'd taken immense pleasure in offending the horrid woman months earlier, and had hoped that interaction was to be their last. But that was before Audrey decided to remain in Paris for the foreseeable future.

She had gotten bored quickly, as was evident by her consistent involvement in Gabriel's work. She would show up to the mansion uninvited, call with questions and admonishments both about what little Gabriel cared to share with her about his newest line. Nathalie was the checkpoint in all of this, and she had to salvage what little energy she had nowadays to always keep a leg up on on the contemptuous woman.

Once, Gabriel had been unleashing an akuma attack when she called. Nathalie had hardly been able to distinguish the ringing of the phone from the ringing in her head.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Bourgeois," Nathalie greeted, trying to keep her voice solid as steel.

"You again? Does Gabriel ever answer his own phone?" demanded Audrey, her perpetually high-pitched tone like nails on a chalkboard. "That man used to bow to me, I tell you, bow! What makes him think he can just pass me on to his glorified maid?"

Nathalie clenched her teeth and swallowed hard. "I can take a message for you." The only thing that kept her from raising her voice was the splitting headache she was nursing.

"Where is he? I want to speak with him directly!" Audrey had screeched.

"In a meeting," Nathalie lied with ease. Somewhere, in the distance, there was a thunderous crash, but the absurd normalcy of the situation let it lapse away like white noise. She repeated, "I can take a message for you."

Audrey released a comically loud sigh on the other end. Then there was the indistinguishable snapping of her whining voice, perhaps at a butler or an assistant of her own. Or her husband. Nathalie couldn't care. Finally, Audrey spoke into the phone, "Inform that insulting, insufferable man that I have some _comments_ to make about the designs he showed me last week."

Nathalie considered writing down the request, but paused with the pen in her hand and decided against it. The energy required to keep her writing steady would have been better spent on maintaining coherent speech through the rest of the hostile exchange. Her head pounded. Her stomach churned. "Very well, Mrs. Bou-"

"Really, with the disrespect he shows me, he's lucky I'm willing to give him my input at all!" Audrey's squawking continued, and Nathalie had half the mind to hang up. "Why, I ought to simply give him the cold shoulder, let him flounder!"

"Mrs. Bourgeois, I believe Mr. Agreste is more than capable of maintaining his reputation without your help," growled Nathalie.

Audrey sputtered on the other end like a failing engine. Before hanging up, she yelled, "And you can be certain he'll be hearing from me about his maid's insolence! Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"

Nathalie dropped her phone on her desk and her head quickly followed suit. Outside the distant noises of a battle had drummed arrhythmically along.

Despite Audrey's intolerable personality, Nathalie was reasonable enough to appreciate the benefits of her association with Gabriel's business. Her endorsements brought in an array of high-profile clients from around the world, and Friday night's charity party was no exception. The attendance of reputable guests kept the event from being dominated by the rowdy teenagers that attended Adrien's school. Many of these people had never seen Ladybug and Chat Noir in person, and the heroes' promise to show was another factor that drew them in.

"More people are coming than I anticipated," Gabriel announced to her, adjusting his glasses as he stared down at his phone, presumably reading a message from Audrey.

Nathalie clipped some papers together and set them aside before looking up at him. "Are you comfortable with that, sir?"

Her boss hesitated. "As long as they stay out of this office, we shouldn't have a problem."

"Are you sure?"

He glanced at the towering golden portrait and set down his phone. "I'm not missing out on the possibility of learning Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities."

Nathalie nodded. "This really hinges on our expectations being correct. Sir, there remains the chance Ladybug and Chat Noir's civilian identities hadn't planned on coming to begin with. We're making a lot of assumptions here."

His eye brows twitched, clearly not liking the sound of her suggestion. "Well, we should hopefully get something out of this." Then, his face lit up as though something had just dawned on him, and his gaze landed on her. "In order to be successful with so many people in his house, you and I need to be sharp and alert. No Mayura exploits before Friday night. Do you understand?"

Gabriel's voice was hard and cold as always, but Nathalie couldn't help but detect the concern in his eyes as he stared earnestly at her, waiting quietly for a response. Her mouth went dry when he mentioned the name of her super villain counterpart. She'd felt well all day, but there was no telling when illness could suddenly set in. She strengthened the look on her face and asserted, "You don't have to worry about me, sir. I assure you that I'll be putting all my energy into helping you carry out this plan."

The unaffectedness in her voice seemed to remind him of their professional relationship and the compassion left his eyes in the way the glare of a light vanishes with the flick of a switch. Once it was gone, Nathalie regretted sending it off. "Excellent. I would expect nothing less."

As Friday approached, both Agreste men grew increasingly more excited. Of course, there was a vast difference in the way they displayed it, but Nathalie was keen enough to attend to them both. Adrien could hardly contain himself. He seemed as thrilled for this event as he would be for a party of his own. He bounced down the stairs with his bag hanging over his shoulder, on his way out to school. "I can't believe it! Tomorrow night, all of my friends are going to be here. In this house. _With_ Father's permission."

Nathalie warned him that he'd left a zipper undone on his bag and said, "Remember, Adrien, that this is still a formal event. Your Father hopes he can count on you to keep your friends from acting too rambunctious."

He looked at her with his big green eyes and dipped his head conscientiously. "Of course. He won't be disappointed."

"I know that you and your friends must be very excited about Ladybug and Chat Noir as well." This seemed to startle him. "But, please, see to it that you're all able to keep your composure."

His voice had lowered, "Yes, Nathalie." Then he smiled brightly at her as he left the mansion. "See you later!"

That same day, Gabriel paced before his wife's portrait in the largest display of anxiety she had seen from him recently. Though his hands remained tightly clasped behind his back, and his eyes steady forward, his arousal was nearly palpable. Maybe her miraculous was alerting her of it. She asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

She didn't want to question him while his emotions were running high, so she spoke softly, "Everything will be alright."

"I don't doubt it."

"How confident are you really?"

He glanced at her, then forward again. "That everything will go exactly right? Not very."

Nathalie grimaced. He'd had a few "master plans" at this point, and none of them had ended in success.

He went on, "But that something beneficial will come out of this? I'm almost certain. Look what I'm doing. Surely this isn't all for nothing."

"Of course not, sir."

Gabriel turned to look at the portrait, adjusting his suit jacket. Nathalie went to sit down, as she had started to feel a little light-headed. His voice sounded distant, "I...I'm excited."

She knew that he was, but hearing him say the words was baffling. "That's great. We're in a good place."

He turned back around, "Yes, the best we - Nathalie."

She blinked at him, squinting through her spotty vision. "Yes, sir?"

His fists were at his side, his lips were pursed. He asked gingerly, speech slow and gentle, "Are you feeling okay?"

She wasn't, but it didn't matter. "Don't worry about me, sir. Focus on tomorrow."

Gabriel opened his mouth to argue, but closed it after a moment of contemplation. His face darkened, and he looked away. Nathalie let her gaze fall onto the floor between her feet. Gabriel Agreste was all too diligent to waste too much of his time concerning himself with her irreversible condition. When she wasn't immediately helpful, she was merely an inconvenience, like everything else in his life. He had bigger goals to focus on, and much more at stake to achieve them. Nathalie knew that he was better than to occupy himself with her.

Yet, she felt his gaze on her now and again, and there was no shaking the echoes of his soft, sincere voice in her head.

* * *

Audrey Bourgeois was never on time. Of all the things about her that could possibly irritate Gabriel, that had to be the most egregious quality. To most events, she was what they called "fashionably late", though Gabriel considered punctuality to be far more fashionable. Other times, however, and especially when it came to him, Audrey took it upon herself to arrive unbecomingly early.

So, he shouldn't have been surprised when she stormed into the mansion while a crew of workers were still setting up tables in the open foyer. Gabriel and Nathalie stood on the stairs, each holding a tablet. They exchanged a look upon seeing her, and Gabriel held up his hand to stop Gorilla from intervening.

"Audrey, you're early," Gabriel said cooly.

She snapped and a skittish make-up artists with a red ponytail leaped seemingly out of nowhere to apply powder to Mrs. Bourgeois's skin. Once the poor woman had stepped away, Audrey smiled at Gabriel ironically. "The sooner I arrive, my dear, the longer you get to enjoy my presence. You're welcome."

She was dressed for the event, in a black floor-length gown with an asymmetrical high-low hem, from which ruffles of chiffon exploded onto the floor around her pristine silver pumps. Gabriel approached her and planted a reluctant, if polite kiss on her freshly-manicured hand. He told her gruffly, "I'm afraid there's not too much for you to do until the event begins at six. There's two hours yet."

Audrey didn't appear to be listening. She was looking Gabriel up and down, her eye brows pulled together in disapproval. "Don't tell me you're wearing...that tonight."

He was dressed in his usual outfit. With a light scoff, he smoothed out his jacket. "No. I'll be getting ready later."

She hummed, then her eyes flicked up to Nathalie, who remained on the stairs, leaning on the banister with the tablet in hand. "And you?"

"Pardon?" Nathalie asked.

"What are you wearing to the party, love?" Audrey asked, missing the irony in the pet name.

Nathalie looked down at her sensible black blazer and slacks, and glanced back up as though it were obvious. "This."

"Gabriel!" snapped Audrey, far too incredulous. "Don't tell me you let your maid flit around these high-class events in that tired suit!" Before either he or Nathalie had the chance to respond, Audrey grabbed her makeup artist by the upper arm and started dragging her with her towards the stairs. "Why, I'm taking care of this immediately. I suppose, Gabriel, you have closets full of your own creations? We'll be using one of those tonight."

Nathalie looked like some sort of animal fearing an imminent visit to the veterinarian. As Audrey and her makeup artists stalked up the stairs as though they lived in the mansion themselves, Nathalie started to back away, her blue eyes begging Gabriel to stop the imposing woman.

"Audrey, this isn't necessary," he told her.

"Don't you tell the queen of style that fashion isn't necessary!" Audrey paused a step below Nathalie and in a complete disregard of personal space, took her face in her hands. "And I'm surprised to hear that from a fashion designer. Come, dear, let's get to work."

"Audrey!"

There was no changing her mind. Nathalie was pulled by the wrist up the remaining stairs. Before she vanished into the hallway, her gaze met Gabriel's, and seemed to say, to his amusement, _I'm going to kill her._

A worker coughed behind him, wanting to ask where they should place the bar. Gabriel knew Nathalie could handle herself and began directing the rest of the set up.

* * *

It wasn't until the front yard and foyer of his house started to fill with the watchful faces of guests that Adrien couldn't help but question his promise to show later as Chat Noir. Classmates and fashion icons alike wanted his attention, almost as much as they wanted the attention of his father, but Gabriel stood safely on the landing of the staircase, which was guarded formidably by Gorilla. That meant they had to settle for the host's dapper son. Adrien pulled at the sleeves of his charcoal colored suit as models he had met perhaps once grilled him with questions like they were old friends. Plagg shifted restlessly under his blazer. He hoped that as the night wore on, people would start to pay less attention to him.

Seeing his foyer bustling with well-dressed strangers was a surreal experience. In fact, Adrien was certain that he'd seen it in dreams. It almost made him uneasy that a sight that once so impossible was playing out before his very eyes, rigorously based in reality. For weeks, he had been so excited, and now it seemed like there was far more thrill in fantasy. He took the time spent pretending to listen to strangers brag of their accomplishments to try and devise a plan for when he needed to transform.

At some point while he was zoning, somebody tapped his shoulder, and he turned around only to be crushed in an overenthusiastic hug from Chloe. "Adri-kins!" she squealed, "How great it is to see you!" She pulled away and ran her index finger down his emerald green tie. "You look handsome as always."

Following her compliment, she posed, evidently waiting for him to appreciate her own ocean-blue evening gown. He told her she looked great. "I'm glad to talk to you, Chloe," he said, "It's great to finally interact with a friend."

She smiled earnestly. Adrien knew she had a long way to go before she was anywhere near as heroic of a civilian as she was as Queen Bee, but she seemed happier nowadays. "I feel like it's been so long since I've been at your house," she commented.

Adrien's eyes flicked up to his father, gazing warily out at the crowd. "Yeah, it has. Probably since my mother disappeared. It feels so weird to have so many people standing in our foyer right now. I only know a few of them."

"It's pretty obvious most of our classmates have never been to an event this high class, judging by their outfits." Chloe spoke just as Rose and Juleka passed by, both in party dresses Adrien found perfectly serviceable. Yet, it was hard to ignore that they looked better suited for a school dance than a formal charity party. "But most of them are here for Ladybug, anyway."

Adrien sighed at the reminder. How was he going to pull this off? "Yeah, that's really exciting," he offered. "Ladybug's been in my house before, but only because of an akuma attack. Tonight's the first time she's coming just for herself."

Chloe smirked. "If I remember the news broadcast correctly, I think she's actually coming for you." He tried to hide his blush, and suddenly realized with a pang of disappointment that unless Chat Noir decided to bail, Ladybug wouldn't be seeing Adrien in the crowd. "It's just too bad Queen Bee wasn't invited as well. I'm sure everyone would have been absolutely thrilled to see her."

Adrien, a little distracted by his concern, tried to give her a kind smile. "Yes, Chloe. I'm sure they would be."

Then Nino emerged from the crowd, wearing a blue and green checkered suit. "Hey dude," he called, "Marinette just got here."

* * *

Time pressed on, and the foyer was alive with loud laughter and conversation. Gabriel expected to feel immensely uncomfortable with the arrangement, which was why he insisted on remaining on the stair landing, meters higher than the the marble floor beating with the drum of high heels and sturdy leather dress shoes. A few guests beckoned him down with the wave of whichever hands weren't occupied with glasses of expensive wine, but Gabriel remained firmly in his place.

He looked almost like the picture of royalty, dressed in a velvet maroon tuxedo. A metallic tie shimmered with the soft light in the room and matched his golden cufflinks and lapel pin. One could have handed him a scepter, and he would have looked just as in place above the rest of the people in the room. Gabriel Agreste was as much host as he was king.

He kept his miraculous pinned beneath his tie, and he could feel it radiate with the emotions swirling furiously through the room. It was useless to akumatize someone now, while Ladybug and Chat Noir were due to arrive at nine, and it would draw too much attention that he would disappear from his place on the stairs just before one of his cursed butterflies were to descend upon the room. But he couldn't ignore the energy of his miraculous. If anything, it served to distract from the discomfort of being in such a crowded space. He also tried to minimize the confusion of the busy room by making a detailed list of the variously colored and patterned formal outfits of his guests - which would come in handy later.

Every once in a while, he would scour the room for his son. Adrien seemed to bounce from one end of the foyer to another, and whenever the boy had gone out to the front yard for fresh air, part of Gabriel felt uneasy with letting his son out of sight (perhaps, that was ironic given how little he actually saw his son). He had started spending time more exclusively with his classmates after the first half hour of the party had elapsed, which Gabriel preferred to him interacting with potentially intoxicated strangers. Yet, ideally Adrien would be at his side on the stairs, or better yet, safely distant from his event in his room.

"You look nervous."

Gabriel glanced to the left up the rest of the stairs and froze.

Nathalie was descending from the second floor, one hand sliding down the railing as her black high heels took cautious steps closer to him. Audrey had dressed her in a deep blue-violet evening gown with off-the-shoulder full-length sleeves. Something about the color, or the elegance, or how beautifully the gown looked as she moved in it reminded him vaguely of Mayura. It was a dress he designed several years ago, back when he only used the miraculous to serve as inspiration for his work. As he gazed at her, he felt the memories of a simpler past and the purposes of an urgent present materialize in the form of the woman walking towards him.

"At least, I think you look nervous. I'm practically blind without my glasses. Is that you, sir?"

It took him several seconds to register what she had said. "What? Yes, it's me. W-where's Audrey?"

Nathalie folded her arms across her chest, and Gabriel couldn't help but notice how her collar bones, now visible, stood out against her pale skin. "That woman put me through three hours of torture because you were incapable of stopping her." The remark was playful, but Nathalie seemed to decide a moment later that she regretted just how playful it was. "Forgive me, sir. I suppose I've missed a lot. My apologies."

She wore her hair down in soft black waves that rested gracefully on her shoulders. Gabriel knew that Nathalie's hair was straight by nature. Audrey's stylist had curled it, in addition to applying dark, smoky makeup, including a dark red lip that kept the streak in her hair from seeming out of place.

"Sir?"

Gabriel blinked. "Pardon?"

"I said Audrey is getting retouched by her makeup artist now. She should be here in a few minutes." Nathalie glanced out into the crowd, squinting deeply. "Or sixty."

He said nothing. He didn't really care. Adrien had come through the front door again, and this time he had a few of his friends in tow. After catching his father's eye, he smiled and waved at him and Nathalie. They pushed their way through the foyer, and Gorilla let them all climb the stairs towards the landing.

"There you are, Nathalie!" Adrien exclaimed. "I was wondering where you went. I worried that you were feeling sick again." Both Gabriel and Nathalie started, but recovered quickly enough for the kids not to notice. "You look so good!"

"That's a beautiful gown, Miss Sancoeur," complimented a girl with glasses, who had her arm linked with Nino's.

"Thank you." Nathalie's voice was impassive, but looking at her, Gabriel could tell she appreciated the admiration.

A few of the friends Adrien had with him had never met his father, so Gabriel was introduced to Alya, Nathaniel, and Marc whose names he was sure to forget after a few minutes. Afterwards, he exchanged pleasantries with those he was meeting again.

Adrien's designer friend, Marinette, was her name – the one who had borrowed the grimoire – was wearing a dress of her own creation. Gabriel could tell it was homemade; the cheap fabric and uneven hem made that evident, but he appreciated the young girl's artistic eye. The asymmetrical neckline was bejeweled with dark stones that starkly contrasted the soft creamy pink color of the dress. The choice gave the feminine outfit an unexpected edge, and Gabriel had made his opinion known to the girl when, to her embarrassment, Adrien asked her to show off her work to the designer. She seemed surprised despite having been recognized for her talent in the past.

"Wow, thank you, Mr. Agreste," she replied in a trembling high-pitched voice.

It was a shame the poor thing lacked such confidence despite her abilities. Gabriel nodded at her, and Adrien, with a wide grin, set his arm around Marinette's shoulders and gave her a friendly wink. She turned a darker shade of pink than her dress.

"So cool of you to let Adrien invite his friends," Nino said. He looked out onto the foyer, where well-dressed attendees were beginning to sit at circular tables and decorate them glass by glass with multi-colored alcoholic beverages. Nino glanced at his own cup of water in his hand. "It's no birthday party, but it's something."

"I've never been to a charity event. They're so fancy," observed the girl with glasses, whose name Gabriel had already forgotten. "What I'm most excited about is Ladybug, though I guess there's no surprise there."

Gabriel looked quickly at his watch, then nodded. "Yes, I'm very honored as a host that she promised to attend. Chat Noir as well."

Marinette murmured, almost too quietly under the rumble of conversation below, "Yeah, that's very...cool of them."

"Looks like they're about to start serving the hor d'oeuvres," Adrien told his friends. He waved at his father and Nathalie, then grabbed Marinette's hand, who squeaked like a plush toy in response. "See you later, Father, Nathalie." His friends thanked their host and started to climb down the stairs after their friend.

Nathalie placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder, and he noticed the sapphire blue of the rings she was wearing facilitated the shine in her blue eyes. "Adrien's friends are kind."

He eyed her hand. "Yes," Gabriel agreed plainly, removing it from his shoulder, which seemed to embarrass her. "My son...he's good."

His assistant looked out onto the floor. Servers walked around with trays of tiny plates carrying tinier arrangements of food. "So, everyone more or less will be remaining in one place for the rest of the night. As it gets to be closer to nine o'clock, we should notice if anyone is acting shifty."

"As host, I'll be introducing the speakers tonight," he replied. "I can't promise I'll be perfectly keen on who is trying to move in and out of the room. Here's the plan. You pay attention to the young people's behavior in the minutes prior to Ladybug and Chat Noir's arrival. Follow them if you must. I'll remain here and observe the room for who is missing while the heroes are speaking." Gabriel had been spending the entire evening thus far memorizing the outfits of all the teenagers who attended. He pulled up the list he'd made earlier on his tablet and tried to spot Adrien's schoolmates in the crowd based on his descriptions alone, to test if they were detailed enough.

Nathalie's glare was intense. She squinted hard, closed one eye, closed the other. "I can try to be as observant as possible, sir, but Mrs. Bourgeois did confiscate the item most useful to this occupation."

Gabriel felt a thorn of irritation. "Of course she did." He took another look at his watch, gold just like the rest of his accessories. "She's scheduled to speak directly before the heroes' arrival. Damn it, if she isn't on time, I'll have little opportunity to demand your glasses from her. That malicious woman..."

Nathalie appeared to find his frustration humorous, covering her smile modestly with her hand. "Don't worry, sir. I can see as much as I need to, at least when someone is moving around. If I can get closer, I'll be able to tell who they are."

"I'm trusting you," Gabriel told her. She dipped her head. "And...how are you feeling?"

Her face twitched. "Sir, with all due respect, must you ask that every time you see me?"

"You're right. My apologies." Gabriel averted his gaze.

She would later refuse to eat anything.

* * *

Audrey Bourgeois stood on the stair landing later that night, a microphone in one hand and a pre-written speech in the other. Her mere presence was enough to capture the guests' attention, but Nathalie couldn't care enough to listen to her disinterested rhetoric on cruelty-free clothing production. That wasn't what she was here for.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs, opposite of Gorilla, she swept her eyes back and forth over the tables, unable to make out a single face she was seeing. It didn't help that the lights had been dimmed for the sake of casting a far-too-expensive spotlight on the speakers. All she could see was a sea of shadowed bodies. Nathalie flinched with the urge to follow people whenever they rose from their seats to get a drink or some fresh air outside. She didn't like feeling so on edge, but the loss of her vision in addition to the senselessness of the plan made her uncharacteristically nervous.

 _Foolish_ , she thought indignantly, _This was foolish. What were we thinking? Are we amateurs?_ All of this for the minute chance that they'd get any closer to finding out Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities? She clenched her teeth, furious at her own imprudence. _Yay for the abolition of the fur trade, I suppose._

Nathalie leaned against the railing. She was feeling a little unsteady on her heels, and the nausea that ailed her made it all the more difficult to remain upright. Shutting her eyes against the illness, she whispered bitterly to herself, "Right, 'no Mayura exploits'. As though that helps..."

Audrey concluded her speech and the room erupted in applause, well aware that she was the final speaker before the arrival of Paris' renowned heroes. The noise sent pain shooting through her head, and she almost didn't comprehend the muffled voice remark nearby, "They're coming soon, right? I ought to go to the bathroom now. Be right back."

Nathalie's eyes fluttered open, and the dark colors of the scene before her were melting together. She thought she could be watching Adrien traverse the room, but her head couldn't ignore the pain long enough to decide. People were on their feet now, speaking amongst each other in anticipation. Nathalie brought her phone close to her face and grimaced into its piercing light. 8:55 pm.

 _If they're here, they should be trying to transform soon._

She tried balancing on her feet again. Everything mingled together around her; colors and shapes churned in a mirage in front of her face; the various intense smells of expensive food nauseated her; the sharp ringing of silverware on plates made her wish to go deaf - if only until all of this was over. She could make out voices, words, tiny slices of sentences shared between people she didn't know and would never see again. Every few moments she would hear, _Ladybug_. Ladybug. Ladybug.

Somewhere above her, Gabriel was trapped in conversation with Audrey and a couple of the other speakers of the night, judging by the sound of his gruff voice among theirs. Nathalie knew that he couldn't have noticed the door to his office open and shut just swiftly enough to deter anybody else's attention.

Ladybug. She forced her feet to move. Though her high heels might as well have been made of solid metal, Nathalie only heard one guest ask, "Hey, Mademoiselle, are you doing okay?" It was easy to ignore.

Her hand gripped the door handle like she could crush it in her hands, and she lunged into the room, demanding, "What are you doing in here?"

The voice that responded was familiar, young, female, stuttering wildly. "Oh! I-I-I'm sorry. I j-just was looking fo-for the-the...the bathroom!"

Nathalie couldn't see anything. Her blurry sight was like trying to see through a screen of running water, and the edges of her vision were flickering shadows, black, threatening. She wasn't even sure anything existed beyond her periphery. "You're not supposed to be in here," she growled. "This is Mr. Agreste's personal...space..."

"Whoa, whoa. You don't look so good." The girl she had followed lost her guilty nervousness in the place of concern.

"Why were you trying to hide?" asked Nathalie, though she wasn't even sure if the words had come out of her mouth. _Are you Ladybug?_

A rush of color. Pink. Black. A low thud, then her hands were cold. Nathalie was on her knees, fingernails scraping the marble. A pair of small, warm hands grabbed her shoulders. "Oh my gosh. Stay here. I-I'll get help."

Footsteps. Nathalie called out weakly, "Who are you?"

* * *

Marinette pushed through the tables in a hurry. Alya and Nino were picking their forks through a couple extravagant desserts when she had reached them.

"Where's Adrien?" she asked them, voice charged with worry.

Nino swallowed a mouthful of cake and replied, "He went to the bathroom a couple minutes ago. What's wrong, dude?"

"You look super anxious," remarked Alya, setting her fork down.

"It's Nathalie. Mr. Agreste's assistant. I have to-" Marinette looked to the fashion designer where he stood on the stairs with Audrey Bourgeois and some other speakers. "I have to go."

She ran towards the staircase. Her feet, which had started the kill her after hours walking around in her heels, were completely painless with her trouble. Adrien's bodyguard spotted her and held his arms to prevent her from running up towards the adults on the landing. Marinette struggled for a moment, then yelled, "Mr. Agreste!"

His pointed glare snapped to her and set her spine in a rush of cold. Audrey sneered down at the young girl, highly unappreciative of being interrupted. They all looked as though they were about to simply ignore her.

"Mr. Agreste! Your assistant!"

This grabbed his attention again. He looked back with a much more receptive countenance.

Gorilla stepped back and Marinette climbed a couple of the steps. "She's in your office! She seems really sick!"

"Nathalie?" Gabriel's eyes flicked towards his office. Never had Marinette seen the man so worried. He traveled down the stairs briskly, touching Marinette's shoulder briefly in thanks before hurrying off.

"He'll take care of her, Tikki," she reassured her kwami as she watched him go. Tikki blinked at Marinette from the shadows of her open purse. "Now, come on, we're late. Let's find a place to transform."

* * *

"Nathalie."

Gabriel shut the door behind him. His assistant was positioned on her hands in knees, her gown spilling onto the floor in a pool of sapphire. He ran to her side.

"Nathalie, can you hear me?"

"Sir..."

"I'm here." He secured his arm around Nathalie's back, and gently turned her around so that he held her steadily across his knee. Her eyelashes twitched as she struggled to open her eyes, the black of her makeup blooming out of her deathly pale skin like dark flowers out of snow.

She moaned, "What time is it?"

He looked at his watch. "9:01."

This alarmed her. Her eyes shot open and she tried to sit up, but her weakness kept her securely in his grasp. "Ladybug!" Nathalie gasped like the name was air. She seized momentarily, then collapsed. "Chat Noir...Sir. _Gabriel_."

His face contorted. He shook his head and whispered, "No. It's alright." She protested, but he didn't listen. "It doesn't matter, Nathalie. Let it go."

On the other side of the door, the guests began to howl with cheer and applause. Gabriel knew that the heroes were standing in his foyer that very moment, but he couldn't find it anywhere in him to consider the subject any further than that. Hidden inside his blazer, Nooroo shuddered with an inaudible whimper, or perhaps, a sigh of relief.

Ladybug's energetic voice soared through the room, and the people applauded after every sentence. Gabriel looked down into Nathalie's face silently. He wanted to comfort her somehow, but every word died on his lips before he could say them. They rested under the emerald gaze of Emilie's ornate portrait, and when Gabriel glanced up to meet the lifeless, painted eyes, he felt his heart break.

"Go," Nathalie was whispering. Her eyes were storming with resignation. "Leave me."

His grip on her arm had tightened so hard that she hardened her jaw in pain. Gabriel apologized, and after a moment of torturous stillness, he let the weight of his grief drop his forehead down to hers. There they remained, until Ladybug and Chat Noir's voices climaxed and crashed into a resounding applause. A moment later, they were gone.

* * *

It was well-after midnight. The foyer had been emptied of all the tables and chairs and food. The guests had all left, though by some miracle - as there was surely no other explanation - Gabriel had allowed Nino to remain there for the night. He and Adrien were upstairs, asleep judging by the silence that permeated the entire mansion.

Gabriel was in his usual position, his maroon tuxedo jacket slung over a chair in the office, his gold tie loosened, his eyes tired. They weren't even seeing Emilie's face. His mind was too loud and troubled to perceive anything but the thoughts that swirled through his head like leaves in a storm.

When the door opened, he startled, and the weight of all the emotion he'd been soaking in lifted with shock before descending down over his shoulders again at the sight of her. Nathalie still wore her gown, which in the darkness, painted her body in the color of deep blue shadow. Her skin was white, her face dull with exhaustion.

He asked with urgency, "Are you okay?"

At some point, she'd passed out in his arms, and knowing that it would be unwise to draw attention to her while so many people buzzed around just outside the office door, he had laid her out on a couch and remained there until she came to. After he determined that she would be able to walk a short distance, he led her upstairs and ordered her to rest in one of the many spare bedrooms in the mansion. As host, Gabriel had to maintain his presence at the party, and did so until the event had drawn to a close a couple hours later. Time had gone by excruciatingly slow.

Nathalie didn't meet his gaze when she answered, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

She leaned against the door, her face troubled. "Yes. Sir, this…" She crossed her arms; she looked cold. "This was your opportunity. You could have found out who they were. That's why you threw all of this together."

He shook his head as though the suggestion was nonsensical. "No. This plan was completely impractical. I should have known we were wasting our time."

"Sir-"

"And I couldn't have left you."

Nathalie blinked at him. There were numerous responses swarming her head, and each one she caught awareness of sent a new feeling pulsing through the length of her. body. She settled on chagrin, her face warm while the rest of her shivered with fever-induced chills. "I was going to be fine." She'd wanted to hiss, but her voice caught in her throat and came as a hoarse murmur. "I'm _always_ fine."

Gabriel's natural frown deepened. "Well, one day, you might not be."

She closed her eyes.

"Nathalie, you can't expect me to be in denial about this," he said soberly, head gently swaying left to right. "Not after what happened to Emilie."

"I'm not asking you to be in denial. I just-"

"Do you really think I would disregard you?" he interrupted, unclasping his hands. Just moving them from his back to his sides made him appear more vulnerable. Or perhaps it was a change in his eyes. She wore her glasses now, but in the low light, she still couldn't tell.

"Maybe you should," she gravely replied, quiet - the only indication that her stoicism was a lie. "I'm practically a burden."

Gabriel stared at her, his face hardening. She could hear him take a deep breath. Finally, he snapped, "Nathalie, sit."

"Sir, I'm okay-"

"Sit down. I need you to understand something."

A moment's hesitation played out like the buildup of tense music. In the stillness, they held each other's gazes, but at the end of the day, Nathalie was an attentive assistant; thus she complied. She sat in the arm chair closest to her, crossing her ankles and feeling her bare feet brush on the cold marble floor beneath her. Gabriel watched her for a few seconds from the other side of the room before he approached. Then he kneeled, much like he had after her first experience as Mayura.

"Listen to me," he prefaced, voice characteristically stern, but she saw that his gray-blue eyes were softer and warmer than usual. Initially resistant, Nathalie suddenly found herself captivated by this, and sucked in her breath through darkly-painted lips. "I will never, I repeat, _never_ let you consider yourself expendable, Nathalie. You have not _once_ been expendable. Don't you ever try to convince me otherwise."

She was stunned. It took a lot of faze Nathalie, and somehow, his few sentences were enough to deepen the steps of her heart. She wondered if the entire house rattled with her pulse. The breath she had been holding released as her mouth hung ajar.

Gabriel leaned closer to her, and didn't seem to notice when she shuddered. He put his hand on hers, lacing his fingers through her own. "Do you understand?" he asked faintly. "You matter to me."

 _You matter to me_. Nathalie's chest fluttered. Tears formed a film over her eyes, blurring her view of him. Gabriel saw this and rose, still holding her hand and warming her skin under his tight and perfect grip. He brought her to her feet, not removing his gaze from hers. After a second of what was evidently busy contemplation, he pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her waist. Nathalie broke. The tears poured out her eyes, leaving trembling gray tear tracks down her cheeks. She hugged him back, holding him like he was the only thing tying her to the earth.

Nathalie couldn't find it in her to reply; the words were simply unable to manifest. Her fingers stiffened, pressing into his shirt as she was overcome with a wave of emotion, swelling somewhere deep within her and externalizing in her uncontrollable trembling. Had she the ability, she probably would have told him she loved him, that she'd loved him for years, that she had always felt foolish for it until that very moment. Perhaps, she didn't need to say a word, because when they started to pull away, she cupped his jaw in her quivering hand and pressed her lips tenderly into his.

And she didn't need to worry, because he kissed her back, almost without hesitation. He put his hand on the back of her head, tangling his fingers into her loose hair.

It lasted no longer than a few seconds. They drifted apart to look into each others' eyes, equally tired, equally desperate.

"You need rest," he whispered.

She shook her head softly. " _I need you_." Her voice was hardly audible.

The night ended with the delicate patter of feet traveling upstairs, the click of a shutting door, the brief rustle of bedsheets, a comforting kiss on a forehead, and then silence.


End file.
